Dakota Garman, right, looks on as Isaac Gibson, left, filters water through his device for testing. Photo provided by Wawasee Middle School.

News Release

Seventh-graders at Wawasee Middle School closed out the year by putting into practice the information they had learned about water this year during a May 24 field trip to the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation Education Center.

With generous funding through the Wawasee Education Foundation, the school supplied water testing kits and materials to make water filtration devices from recycled water bottles. Students used these materials to test the lake water for contaminants before and after filtration.

Volunteers from the WACF led a discussion on wetlands and the watershed. Students also participated in a water bucket relay, a mini-sailboat race using recycled milk cartons, launched desktop catapults and had a scavenger hunt along the trails of the Education Center. The goal of the field trip was to develop a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, one of our area’s greatest natural resources.